


Of Calescence and Chroma

by kat_elric



Category: Infinite (Band), Super Junior, TRAX, U-KISS
Genre: Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, M/M, Vampires, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-28
Updated: 2016-05-03
Packaged: 2018-06-05 01:47:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6684349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kat_elric/pseuds/kat_elric
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While taking a moonlight stroll, Hoon finds something out of place in a nearby body of water. After reacting on instinct, he finds himself face to face with an unhappy werewolf. Despite their first fateful meeting, Hoon just can’t seem to leave well enough alone and finds himself drawn back time and time again. This might just be the time when his curiosity finally gets the best of him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

Chapter One

The water was cool around him, chilling in its embrace as he slipped further and further beneath it. Calm darkness washed over him and after a time longer than he could remember, it was a welcome sensation. The creature within him was panicked, outraged, savage at what was happening but it didn’t matter. That creature didn’t have a say any longer, maybe it never had in the first place and that was what brought them to this point. It hardly mattered; there was no going back now that he was in water five times as deep as he was tall. Perhaps in any other substance it would have made a difference, but he had entered the water with one thought in mind. Werewolves couldn’t swim and they certainly couldn’t float.

▪▫▪☼▪▫▪

Simply put, he missed the sun and no amount of wandering around in the dark was going to change that. The bright star in the daytime sky had been the furthest thing from his mind when he had accepted the change that his Maker had presented but he wished he would have thought of it then. Moonlight was a poor substitute to that of the sun.

Sure he didn’t technically have to stay out of the sun for his entire life. Jay, the Master of the Seethe, could be out in the sun as long as it wasn’t directly on him for too long. The Master could, at the very least, stand in the shade and peer at the sun for as long as he would like. It would be several hundred years before he would be strong enough to do the same. He didn’t know if he could last that long. So instead he, the freshly turned vampire, took long walks in the moonlight hoping that it would remind him of the sun. It didn’t and he hated it.

At the very least he could still enjoy the night time breeze on his skin, and smell the scent of the forest almost sharper than before. The Master had told him once, when his change was only just beginning, that he wasn’t cut out for this life. Perhaps the much older vampire had been right. He had expected a sort of hardness to wash over him with his change, but there wasn’t anything different except for his new taste for blood. Sure he had improved senses and a few new instincts but it wasn’t anything that surprised him, nothing that seemed to make him dangerous like the other vampire’s around him appeared to be. Nothing impressive. Perhaps his Maker hadn’t done things quite right and he had come out a defective vampire. It wouldn’t be the first thing in his life that had turned out the exact opposite of what it should have been.

He turned his face into the breeze and felt it tickle across his skin. With his eyes shut he could nearly pretend he was still human, able to sit and wait for the rising of the sun, but with his eyes opened he couldn’t pretend. With eyes open he saw colors so numerous that he never knew existed, radiating from anything living. Auras, his Maker had called them when he had first begun to see them. It was his Talent, he had been told, to see the life in things in a way he hadn’t been able to before. Things without a conscious mind, like trees or plants, seemed to glow faintly around the edges, small specs of life outlining their existence. However the more a living thing thought, the wider and livelier its colors were.

His Maker had told him that he would learn, learn things about his Talent that he didn’t know now, teaching himself things about it that would aid him. Like any skill, his Master had told him, he would grow in it and learn new undiscovered sides of it. Already he was beginning to see what the colors meant, a flicker in a pattern here or a bright flash there, could mean a decision had been made or be any of several emotions. It was the thing from his new existence that fascinated him most, the only thing that made him willing to give up the sun.

The Talent he possessed brought a new side to simple activities such as sitting beside a deep pond in the middle of the night. Fish were a shimmering array of color that flickered and flitted everywhere, visible to him no matter how deep they swam. Even if his eyes couldn’t perceive the creatures it seemed that his Talent could, if he focused. It was one of his favorite ways to pass the time before the rising of the sun chased him away, and it was to the pond that he headed that night.

He saw the fish first as he neared, crowded to one side of the pond with their auras flickering widely as if frightened by something. On the other side of the pond was a splash of color larger than any he had ever seen beneath the surface of the water. There were large splashes of reds and obscured earthy greens, two separate auras occupying the same space and both fading as he watched. He had seen the fade before, in a human who was dying, their aura extinguishing with their life.

As he watched the red slowed, almost peaceful, resolved to what was happening, but the greens called his attention. They, despite their fade, were frantic, desperate, and lit through with flashes of golden anger. No matter what half of the aura seemed to be saying, this half clearly did not want to fade out and die. That knowledge was enough for him, and without further thought he leapt to the water’s edge and dove beneath its surface.

▪▫▪☼▪▫▪

He woke first, wet and pissed but alive. The snarl was inevitable as was the sharp movement of rolling onto human hands and knees. Savior or not, he wouldn’t submit to the creature, couldn’t do so.

“You’re alright. My name is Hoon. I just pulled you out of the pond but you are alright now,” the creature was saying, his tones light, nearly human.

This one was foolish, young, and easy to kill if he had wanted. Clearly whoever had created him had not taken the time to teach him the power of things, such as a name. That, however was the least of his worries, since he knew the human within him wouldn’t slumber forever. The human was stronger than he, well versed at this struggle and would have his way.

“He is trying to kill us,” he growled, hating that he was admitting the weakness to a creature so weak himself, but he was out of options. “Will kill us. You can’t let him.”

“Who is trying to kill you?” the young one asked, his hand touching his shoulder lightly.

Struggling to fight the exhaustion the near death had brought them, he lifted his eyes knowing the creature would see wolf gold. “The human side of us,” he growled. “You can’t let us die.” With that last plea, he felt the human within him awaken.

▪▫▪☼▪▫▪

Hoon watched it happen through the man’s auras, as fast as a wildfire, green being eaten and buried by red until only the small angry pulse of it was left. He had never seen a thing like it as long as he had been alive, which admittedly wasn’t all that long. It seemed as if two auras were inhibiting one body, sharing the space or at least fighting for the same space. The golden eyes that had been watching him with such pleading intensity faded to a tired brown and the man rocked back on his heels.

“Damn it,” he cursed, glancing at the pond and then back to the vampire. “You pulled me out didn’t you?” he accused, anger flashing bright red through his aura.

“I,” Hoon stuttered, not certain how to deal with the change in the man. “Yes. You didn’t want to die. I saved you.”

“Stupid vampire, do you know nothing?! Drowning is one of the only ways a werewolf can commit suicide!” he snarled rising to his feet.

Werewolf. He had heard of those, although the closest thing he had ever seen to one was the mate of the Master, Jungmo. Jungmo’s aura had been a pleasant blend of blues and greens, nothing he had seen before or again, until now. It clicked then, the double aura he was seeing, red over green, the coexistence of man and Beast.

“I didn’t know,” he stuttered still at a loss for what to do. “You looked like you wanted to live.”

The man looked at him, narrowed his eyes for a moment and then sighed. “What would you know you are only a pup? You still smell human. Hell you still breathe like a human.”

“I’m not,” he said stubbornly, feeling the need to rise as well. He didn’t think he would win a dominance game with the wolf but he hardly needed to give his Maker a reason to criticize him.

The werewolf laughed bitterly, shaking his head and causing water to fling from his curling hair. “Listen pup, go back to your Maker and learn how to be a vampire. The next time you meet one of my kind, it will be trying to kill you, so you best learn while you can.” The werewolf didn’t wait for a response before he turned and stormed through the forest away from the pond, dripping water as he went.

Unable to simply let things go, Hoon found himself calling out after him, “Clearly you don’t want to die that much! The pond is the other way!”

▪▫▪☼▪▫▪

Fascination drove him, fascination with something that didn’t quite understand. He had always had an immense curiosity that had landed him in this situation in the first place. Never had he figured out when it was well enough to leave things alone and even when fangs had pierced his neck he had driven on, out of curiosity. It, of course, had led him to kneeling in what served as the greeting room for the Master of the Seethe.

“Hoon?” a voice asked, softer and gentler than the Master. It was Jungmo, exactly the man who he had hoped to see.

“I wished to have a word with you,” he said and then paused. His Maker had never quite covered what to call the mate of the Master, likely because he wasn’t ever supposed to speak with him alone for several years yet.

“Jungmo is fine,” the man said then he sighed. “And do get up off the floor. That position is ridiculous.”

Startled he rose from his prostrated position and hesitantly straightened his clothing. He didn’t want to offend the much older and more powerful man. He wasn’t afraid of death since he was reasonably sure that his Maker would throw a huge enough fit to keep that from happening, but he didn’t want to be disrespectful either. The politics of being a vampire were starting to make his head hurt.

“You’re from Korea right?” Jungmo asked and he glanced up to see the man juggling an armload of books and picking up more from the table as he moved about the room.

“Yes,” Hoon answered simply, uncertain what the man was after.

“Then here, in this part of the seethe, you can just treat me as your hyung. All the politics are so tiresome all the time and I, since I’m not even a vampire, get to ignore them when I want to,” he shot Hoon a lopsided smile full of playful mirth and held out the books he had just picked up. “Carry those for me, and grab those other two from the table?” he asked.

Hoon rushed to do as he had been asked. “Yes,” he hesitated then added, “Hyung.”

The man’s smile was warm and his aura bright and soothing as he turned to head deeper into the Master’s personal apartments. “So Hoon,” he said gently pausing at the doorway and holding the door open so the young vampire could slip past him. “What was it you wanted to talk about?” Jungmo let the question hang in the air, giving him all the time he needed to construct his answer.

“I met a werewolf,” he said finally as they entered a large room whose walls were lined with shelf upon shelf all full of books.

“Ah first time seeing one?” Jungmo asked, holding up one of the books in his arms and reading the title quickly before moving to a shelf.

Hoon wasn’t quite certain how to answer that. No one had ever told him what Jungmo was, but he couldn’t deny the similarities in the aura between the werewolf and that of the man gently placing books back onto the shelves. “Yes. I saved him from drowning,” he said finally.

Jungmo turned and looked him over as if searching for something and then smiled. “Well you are still in one piece so it must have turned out alright.”

“Yes,” Hoon agreed as the older man turned back to the shelves. “He knew what I was.”

“I imagine he did,” Jungmo agreed, shelving another book. “Their sense of smell is as sharp as most vampires, and they have good eyesight. Plus if this wolf was old enough to be drowning he would have known what you were simply by your lack of heartbeat.”

“My heart beats,” Hoon replied, shocked and shifting his hand to his chest in panic.

Jungmo’s laugh was warm. “Yes, when you want it to, and just after you have fed, but if you aren’t thinking about it, it no longer does. The things that your brain does without your conscious command are different now. Don’t worry Hoon; no harm will come to you from the lack. It will just feel different for a while.” He thought he would have noticed the lack of a beating heart in his Maker, but then again, the times he had been close enough to hear his Maker’s heartbeat had been just after the man had fed from him or right before and that had been the last thing on his mind at the time.

“But you didn’t come to talk about your heartbeat or lack of,” Jungmo reminded, taking the books he was holding gently from his arms.

“No,” Hoon agreed, standing awkwardly in the middle of the room while Jungmo moved around him. “I can see auras,” he blurted uncertain where to start.

“Ah yes,” Jungmo agreed, inspecting a book briefly and then reaching to a high shelf to place it. “Jay had mentioned something about that. A rare Talent. I believe the last vampire with it was killed sometime a century ago.”

That was news to Hoon and he nearly got distracted by asking after information about that vampire that shared his Talent. “The werewolf’s aura was strange,” he said, trying to keep himself on track. “Sort of like two auras in one.”

“Interesting,” Jungmo commented, pausing to look at him for a moment. “You can see both man and Beast. Fascinating.”

“I think I may have talked to the Beast too,” Hoon agreed, unsure but willing to voice his opinion.

“It is likely,” Jungmo agreed, returning to his shelving. “The Beast side of the werewolf, likely wouldn’t have wanted to die and in the moment of weakness would have been able to overpower the human side.”

“His aura looked like yours only more separate,” Hoon blurted, then flushed in embarrassment. It very likely wasn’t polite to comment on what he could see since it seemed to be the private side of a person. Jungmo, however didn’t appear upset, in fact his aura rolled together blues and greens bubbling and shifting with amusement.

The man shelved the last of the books in his arms and moved to the large table in the center of the room to collect some more before answering. “Understandable, since I am half werewolf.”

“Is that why-” Hoon began and then stopped. It would be horribly disrespectful to keep prying, almost like asking the man what sort of undergarments he wore, something too private.

“Is what why?” Jungmo prompted moving closer. “It’s alright to ask me about my aura. While I would say it probably is something private that you shouldn’t poke around at people too often about, you will never learn if you don’t ask, and I don’t mind the questions. Here,” he handed three books to the young vampire and then pointed across the room. “These go on that shelf there. Alphabetical by author.”

Grateful for something to do, Hoon moved to the shelf and began to search for the proper place for them. He had shelved one before he found the courage to speak. “Is that why your aura is two colors but moves like one?”

“People’s auras are normally one color?” Jungmo asked curiously.

Hoon found that it was hard to describe something that only he could see to someone else. “Yes,” he decided on eventual. “There is one main color like the Master is golden, but his aura holds all the different tones and shades of it and changes within that color.”

“Interesting,” Jungmo commented and he wasn’t sure how to respond. “You can see different tones of gold. Most people think there are only one or two shades of that particular color before you hit yellow.”

“I can see colors that I never knew existed when I was human. My Maker is a color that I don’t have a name for. Sort of a mix of a purple and blue but its own creation and deep,” Hoon suddenly clamped his mouth shut afraid that he had said too much.

“What is my color?” Jungmo prompted, seeming curious.

Hoon turned, pausing for a moment to watch the aura that nearly pulsed to him with curiosity. “Your aura is a very pretty blue that I can’t quite describe mixed with an dark green that reminds me of the forest, but both colors move together so I’ve never been certain if it’s just you or not.”

Jungmo brightened, “I would say that you can see my aura and that of my Beast. I wonder which is which,” he mused.

“You have a Beast too?” Hoon asked, confused.

“Yes,” Jungmo said absently, his mind clearly still back on the previous point. “We just agree on pretty much everything so we probably look pretty much the same. We’ve lived together for a very long time.”

“So his Beast might look like a different aura all together, because they weren’t agreeing?” Hoon asked.

“I imagine so,” Jungmo agreed, seeming to refocus. “You are growing quickly Hoon. You’re very smart and your Talent suits you well.”

“Thank you,” Hoon murmured, flushing red and turning back to the shelf for something to do.

“Did you find what you came looking for?” Jungmo asked him after a moment.

Hoon nodded as he slipped the last book in his arms onto the shelf. “I think so, yes. Thank you.”

“I didn’t do anything but listen,” Jungmo told him.

“It was very helpful though,” Hoon admitted. He turned and bowed deeply, respectfully to the man. “Thank you, Hyung.”

“You’re welcome,” Jungmo told him. He had moved to the door before the man’s voice called him to a stop again. “You are welcome to come talk to me any time you need to. You remind me of one of Jay’s Children.”

“But he hasn’t had any Children in a long time,” he blurted before he could stop himself. He hadn’t been living in the seethe all that long, but word of things like that seemed to travel. His own Maker had been the last of the Master’s Children and he was old enough in his own right.

“No he hasn’t,” Jungmo agreed, not offended. “And we both miss it. Perhaps we will have to remedy that soon.” Hoon nodded, uncertain what to say. “Oh and Hoon,” Jungmo continued. “I’ll talk to Kiseop about spending more time with you. It isn’t fair that he forgets you now that he has Kevin to entertain him. Even weaned you still have need of him for a while yet.”

That wasn’t something he had ever thought the man would offer and the idea filled him with warmth. “Thank you,” he murmured and slipped from the room before he could say anything else that would embarrass him.


	2. Chapter 2

Although Hoon looked, spending time at the pond and ranging through the forest, it was nearly a week before he caught sight of the werewolf again. The creature who had inevitably heard his approach but didn’t acknowledge him, was perched on an outcropping of rock several feet above a high river. A leg dangled over, swaying back and forth gently, but he gave no indication that he planned to throw himself forward.

Red pulsed gently through his aura, not exactly peaceful but calm enough that there weren’t any signs of distress. A ball of green hovered writhing on the fringes of the aura, pressed and surrounded by red. It was a strange contrast, seeing the two auras and the two very separate feelings they were giving off when he inspected them. Two very separate identities trapped in one body.

He didn’t attempt to mask the sound of his footfalls as he moved closer to the werewolf and settled beside him. It was easier, he found, to move like he had a short time ago as a human. The stealth of a predator still seemed to be a chore to him. He settled beside the werewolf, far enough that they would have to move if they wanted to touch but near enough that it would be clear that he was there to see him. Dangling both legs over the ledge seemed like the thing to do, and he did so, peering down at the water below.

A few fish moved through the fast speeding water, their auras flickering brightly as they swam. There were other things below as well, soft glows that he didn’t recognize, likely plant or animal life he wasn’t yet familiar with. The water wasn’t loud since there were no rocks to interrupt its path, but he could hear its melody as it moved downstream.

“I’m not sure it is deep enough for you to sink in,” Hoon mused, squinting at the moonlit surface below. “Although if you do it right you may be able to break both of your legs in the fall and therefore be unable to stand up in the water. That might do it for you.” If he had expected a laugh or a comment in response, he was sorely disappointed.

Some minutes later, when it was clear that he wasn’t going to leave, the werewolf spoke without looking away from the water below. “What do you want Pup?”

The question wasn’t as harsh as he had been expecting and almost seemed inviting. He took that as a good sign. “A name would be nice, or maybe the reason why I had to pull your heavy butt out of a pond.” Silence greeted him and he continued unperturbed. “I mean I know fishing is all the rage these days but I suggest using a pole not trying to go in after them yourself. Especially if you sink like a rock.”

“Are you always this chatty?” the werewolf asked after a moment, glancing at him.

Hoon shrugged. “No, usually not. Usually I’m pretty shy and being new to the seethe means that I don’t get much time to talk to anyone.”

“Probably a good thing,” the wolf grumbled, “You should be learning from them silently, Pup. Your Maker must not be very good at this to let you out of his sight already.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Hoon asked, mildly offended.

“You are so loud a human could hear you coming. Your breathing just makes unnecessary noise since you don’t need to do it to survive. You lack the grace of half of your kind, and you still smell human,” the werewolf said flatly.

“I can’t help the way I smell,” Hoon snapped. “I shower regularly.”

“Smelling human isn’t a bad thing,” there was a faint grin on the face of the werewolf as it turned to look back at the water, “it just means that you haven’t been changed long enough to stop smelling alive.”

“Oh,” Hoon wasn’t sure if that was a compliment when he put it that way.

“A pack would never let a Pup as new as you out of our sight. It’s your Maker’s fault not yours,” the werewolf told him.

“He doesn’t exactly know that I’m out here,” Hoon admitted. It wasn’t as though he snuck out most nights; he simply didn’t tell anyone when he walked through the front door. Someone in the seethe had to know he was gone so he wasn’t sneaking out, not quite.

“Dangerous, little Pup, especially to come and play with one of my kind. We generally don’t like one another.”

“My name is Hoon,” he reminded the werewolf and then paused. “Why doesn’t our kind like one another?”

The werewolf shrugged. “I have to imagine it had to do with competing for the same resource once upon a time. Our kind generally don’t like any but our own and we don’t even get along all that well with our own kind outside the pack. Perhaps it comes from the human side of us, since humans seem to be rather good at distrusting anything different. Why do you ask Pup?”

Hoon twitched at the name but he didn’t correct the werewolf. At least they were talking, that was better than nothing. “I don’t know. No one tells me these things.”

“Ah,” the werewolf hummed as if he knew what had happen. “Sometimes we get so caught up in our own immortality we forget those who still number their time in years instead of decades or centuries. You are young, before long you will find that you know enough not to care anymore, have seen enough not to give a damn.”

“Is that what happened to you?” Hoon asked. It must have been the wrong question since the werewolf fell into a scowling silence, as he glared down at the water beneath them. Hoon sighed as he watched the red in the werewolf’s aura roll with an emotion he didn’t yet recognize.

He wasn’t certain how long they sat there without talking, not exactly in companionable silence but close. The sun was nearing its time to rise, he could feel the almost itch under his skin as he rose from the rock. “Well I have to get going unless you want barbequed vampire for breakfast. The sun and I still don’t see eye to eye.”

There werewolf grunted and didn’t turn to look his way. That would be all he was getting from the creature for the night. It was more than he had hoped for, he supposed. Standing he stretched a bit and was puzzled for a moment about the lack of stiffness in his body. It was one of the perks of not being human any longer. His body reacted differently to everything, including sitting unmoving for long periods of time. The only time he ever really ached anymore was when he was hungry and his Maker had a habit of keeping him well fed.

“Well I’ll see you around,” he offered. He didn’t expect an answer so he was already out of human hearing range when the wolf spoke.

“Soohyun, my name is Soohyun,” the werewolf said, loud enough that he would be able to hear.

“Soohyun,” Hoon said with a nod trying out the name. “Have a good day,” he offered, before he set off in a run that reminded him of a slow moving car, instead of his typical human speeds.

As he dodged through the trees, he thought he heard the werewolf say “You too Pup,” but he didn’t have time to be sure.

▪▫▪☼▪▫▪

“Everything has an aura,” he argued, seeing the faint outline around the trees and their leaves as well as every bush as they walked.

“Everything?” the werewolf countered skeptical. “So you are telling me that this,” he stooped and picked up a rock, “has an aura?”

Hoon huffed in annoyance. “Everything living,” he corrected.

“And you can see them?” Soohyun still sounded skeptical.

“Yes. Every vampire has a Talent. Mine is the ability to see auras.” Hoon didn’t think he was giving away any vampire secrets with the admission of the fact, especially not since Soohyun seemed to know a lot more about what he was then he did.

“I’ve heard of several Talents, but that one is new,” the werewolf said. “That must be annoying seeing all of those all the time. The whole world must be a wash of color to you.”

“Not really,” Hoon admitted. “Things with a simpler consciousness or none at all seem to be smaller and softer, almost like the thing itself is just glowing faintly, but people can get kind of taxing. I haven’t been in a crowd yet since my change, but I imagine it would give me a migraine.”

“So you can see my aura, right now?” Soohyun asked.

“Yes,” Hoon answered sheepishly. “It is how I knew you were in the pond and didn’t want to die.” As soon as he said it he had regretted it. For the few weeks he had been able to find the werewolf they had spent the time talking about all sorts of subjects but never once mentioning the way they had met. It seemed almost a taboo subject for them.

“My aura said I didn’t want to die?” Soohyun asked softly.

Surprised, Hoon could do little more than offer a murmured “Yes.” After spending more time with the werewolf, he was growing used to the two separate auras that resided in him. The man and the Beast both seemed to react to whatever was happening, and usually they reacted differently. It was a curious thing to him to behold irritation in the man but to see amusement in the Beast’s green aura. At the moment neither man nor Beast seemed particularly upset with him.

“And what is my aura saying now?” the werewolf questioned.

The statement surprised him and he took a moment to study the creature beside him before answering. “It is hard to explain to someone who can’t see it,” Hoon said first, “and I’m still new at this.” He hoped Soohyun would be able to read between the lines of that statement. “It seems cautious, but not in a bad way. It is wary but feeling secure enough to be curious. Your Beast is amused, by everything I think, or maybe just me, but you are in control of him completely at the moment.” There was what seemed to be a grumbling pulse of agreement from the green and it brought a smile to his face.

“Interesting,” Soohyun told him. The werewolf didn’t elaborate on what exactly was of interest and he couldn’t bring himself to ask.

▪▫▪☼▪▫▪

“This is ridiculous!” Soohyun growled as they moved through the forest together a few nights later.

Although Hoon could think of several things that would fit into that category, he was unsure as to which one the werewolf was referring. “What is?” he asked curiously.

“You!” the werewolf accused, yet his aura didn’t show any signs of real anger. “You are moving around like an elephant stomping across the plains! There is no wildlife in this forest because you are scaring it all away!”

He hadn’t really given much thought to the fact that he didn’t see anything larger than an insect every time he had been out and about. Hoon winced as he stepped on a stick and a particularly loud crack rang through the otherwise still forest. Perhaps there was some truth to the werewolf’s statement. “Sorry,” he muttered.

Soohyun sighed and an arm shot out, catching him in the chest and stopping him from moving forward. “Take off your shoes.”

“What?” Hoon asked, blinking in confusion. That was about the last thing he expected to hear from the werewolf.

“Just do it,” Soohyun growled.

Belatedly he remembered that werewolves, no matter how dominate, did not like their orders being challenged when they had given a direct one. Despite the fact that he was technically under no obligations to obey the wolf and he doubted that the man would hurt him no matter what he did, the fact remained that Soohyun could likely kill him without him being able to do much in the way of defending himself. Quickly he removed his shoes and socks.

He looked to the werewolf in expectation of the next order and was met with a considering gaze. “I want you to stop breathing. Unless you need to inhale to speak or to scent the wind, don’t draw air into your lungs.”

Even though he didn’t need to breathe, the idea of stopping frightened him. Soohyun must have seen something in his eyes or body language that spoke as much because he sighed. “You already stop breathing occasionally when we are not talking. If you don’t think about it you won’t breathe, you’ll be fine. Now I’m going to teach you how to walk.”

Hoon very much wanted to inform the vampire that he wasn’t stupid he knew how to walk, but he clamped his mouth shut. “Your problem is you slap your whole foot down and then half drag it before picking it up again. You are scuffing your feet like a teenager and that is something you will never be again. As a predator you need to learn to move silently. The best of your kind seem to float instead of walk and never make a sound. While my kind can be nearly silent in most things, your kind can achieve complete silence.”

“Now pay attention,” he ordered. It wasn’t like his attention had wandered but he made sure to focus on exactly what the werewolf was doing. “Instead of stomping your whole foot down, walk lightly on the balls of your feet. Let your feet find good surfaces with a small touch before you crunch down on something loud.” He demonstrate walking, slowing down his motions so that Hoon could see exactly what he was doing. “Try it,” he ordered.

Carefully Hoon tried to mirror what he had seen, stepping forward lightly and not placing his foot unless he felt the cool earth beneath it. He made it three steps before Soohyun called, “look forward, you don’t need to watch your feet, you have to learn how to feel it, not see it.” Hoon nodded, raising his eyes to look straight ahead.

He made it three more steps before he crunched another stick beneath his foot. “You are still walking too human,” Soohyun told him. “You have new instincts that want to move in new ways now. Trust them and you will be fine.”

Easier said than done, Hoon thought, but he didn’t say a word as he nodded and continued forward. He thought the entire thing was ridiculous but he didn’t put his shoes back on his feet for the remainder of the night.

▪▫▪☼▪▫▪

“Better,” Soohyun commented lightly as he approached, “but you still sound like a rhino.”

“Well not all of us can be little floating fairies,” he countered.

“And some of us may not live to see their first birthday after their change,” Soohyun shot back with a grin.

“I’m twenty and going to be twenty one in a month, thank you very much,” Hoon informed him as he fell into step beside the werewolf.

“Aw that is so cute,” Soohyun cooed in mockery. “You still celebrate birthdays.”

Hoon frowned, suddenly serious. “You don’t? That is sad.”

Soohyun looked away, the light playful streaks of red fading from his aura. “When you are as old as I am and have seen what I have, things like being alive another year becomes meaningless.”

“That sounds like a sad existence,” Hoon admitted softly.

“I suppose it is,” Soohyun agreed. “That is why most of us that were once human and find ourselves no longer so, tend to go a little crazy the older we get. A part of us remembers and mourns the increasing loss of our humanity.”

Hoon had seen evidence of that within the very walls that he called home. The older a vampire was the less stable they seemed to be as far as he had seen. It wasn’t something he looked forward to, but inevitable he supposed. “Why do we have to lose it?” he offered. “If we remember, is it ever truly gone?”

At his words, Soohyun froze, a sharp intake of breath the only thing signaling his halt. His aura flared brightly, stroked through with the deeper shades that Hoon had come to recognize as sorrow. The pain that flashed through the werewolf’s face and aura was deep enough that the Beast’s green echoed it in the patterns.

“Soohyun?” he said softly, afraid to reach out and touch the less than stable man. “Are you alright?”

The werewolf shook his head as if trying to clear it. “Fine,” he growled, moving forward again, stepping in front of Hoon and continuing to watch. With nothing to do but follow quietly after Soohyun, he was afforded a perfect view as the streaks of sorrow were taken and shoved away from the man’s aura until they were only a flicker along its edge. It was the place, Hoon was learning, that people’s true emotions were displayed, the emotions that they wanted to keep hidden from the world.

Clearly something he had done had set the werewolf off, but he couldn’t figure out what it could possibly be. They had simply been having one of their regular conversations so he didn’t think that was the cause. Even the sound of his walking had been improving. He wasn’t soundless yet but he was better. He was even getting better at not breathing unless he needed to.

Somewhere between his incomplete ponderings of what he had done wrong and what he should say, Soohyun quickly spun and slammed him into the nearest tree. Panic filled him as a large hand covered his nose and mouth, shutting of his air supply. His hands scrapped at the werewolf’s arms frantically trying to pull the one away from his mouth or shift the other from his chest, anything to get himself free. Like this he would be easy to kill, oh so easy.

The werewolf leaned close; his eyes flashing predatory gold, and Hoon renewed his struggles. Strength that he didn’t yet know flowed through him and he racked deep furrows into the werewolf’s arm before the creature pulled him from the tree and slammed him back against it again. “What the hell are you doing?” Soohyun hissed, so softly that even he had trouble hearing the words. An answer formed in his mind but it was impossible to say due to his ever increasing lack of air.

“You don’t need to breathe your idiot. Just be still and use your Talent. There is something in the forest,” Soohyun hissed.

Belatedly he realized that the werewolf was correct. If he had truly been trying to kill him then he may have settled on a slightly more effective method than trying to suffocate the creature that didn’t even need to breathe. His fingers, which had still been digging into the werewolf’s skin, loosened their hold slightly as he forced himself to relax. It had been foolish to think Soohyun would try to hurt him, but it did bring to the forefront of his mind just how defenseless he was. The realization wasn’t one he liked, and was something he planned to remedy as soon as he possibly could.

Once he was calm enough to think clearly he realized that Soohyun had a reason for his actions and he strained to see beyond the pulsing red in his vision to what lay beyond. There, in the forest, were auras that hadn’t been there a few minutes before or he was certain he would have noticed. There were nine of them, all different colors, but all bearing the same look. Every single aura seemed to have a darker quality to it, one that made him shiver in Soohyun’s hold. They were human, he couldn’t say how he knew that, only that he did, and every single one of them carried within their aura the very real intent to hunt and to kill.

It was impossible to know what the humans wanted. He was a vampire but that didn’t make him telepathic. There was no way of telling what their intent was, nothing to give him an idea except for the small flicker he saw in their auras. Hoon still wasn’t certain how reliable his ability to perceive things like intent was. Most of his understanding of auras focused in the large and obvious things leaving those that were more subtle a mystery to him. Spending time with Soohyun was helping but not enough that he trusted it.

He tapped Soohyun’s arm lightly in attempts to get his attention. When the werewolf looked at him, narrowing his eyes, Hoon lifted his hand and curled his fingers in the imitation of claws. He swiped once with them, then drew a finger across his neck miming death. In response Soohyun nodded grimly, clearly having sensed whatever it was the men were doing.

After giving Hoon a firm look Soohyun removed his hand from the vampire’s mouth and nose, then gestured at the forest with it. He gave the vampire a questioning look and then waited for a moment. Clearly Hoon wasn’t as adept at reading body language as the werewolf would have liked, because a moment later his brow wrinkled in frustration. Soohyun pointed to Hoon then to himself before using two of his fingers to mime running.

‘Safe passage?’ Hoon mouthed. Soohyun nodded curtly. It hadn’t occurred to Hoon until that moment that the werewolf may not know the exact location of the men even though he knew they were there. The senses of the wolf didn’t give him all knowing or x-ray vision. He would be able to smell and hear the men clearly but he wouldn’t have a way placing their exact locations. Nine men would be a few too many for them to safely fight and running right into them was not a safe plan. The werewolf had to be counting on the fact that Hoon may be able to see them through their aura to grant them the freedom of moving safely.

He took a moment to look and to really see the bright spots of aura that were moving through the forest. It wasn’t as though he was seeing human shaped colors since every aura appeared to him as a loose blob of color around the creature. He could, inexplicitly, tell that they were human through something in that aura. Somehow, in a way he hadn’t quite figured out yet, his brain had associated some part of a creature's aura with what the creature was, allowing him to be able to tell without really being close enough to see the creature itself. He assumed that it would work for only those creatures he had seen before, but he had never had the opportunity to test his Talent like that.

The auras, a variety of colors, were moving along together in a tight formation. Nine of them spread out like a semi circle combing the forest, almost as if they were a net sweeping over the area trying to trap anything inside it. If they didn’t move, they would be caught right in the middle of it.

Hoon pointed over his shoulder. There weren’t any auras, or at least those belonging to humans behind him and that might provide a safe getaway, although he was hardly certain where they would go. It was impossible to know where the humans were headed or how long they were going to be a presence in the forest. They couldn’t run forever, not with the dawn only a few hours off.

Soundlessly Soohyun picked him up and hoisted him over his shoulder. Hoon resisted the urge to release a noise of protest at the action, helped by a warning squeeze to his leg that threatened violence for making any noise. It made logical sense for Soohyun to carry him since the werewolf was the one that could move silently unlike himself, but it didn’t make him any more warm to the idea. As soon as he was settled, Soohyun set out silently in the direction Hoon had indicated leaving him nothing to do but dangle across the man’s shoulder until they got to wherever they were going.

▪▫▪☼▪▫▪

By the time Soohyun slowed, the auras of the men were small spots of color at the far range of his Talent. “Dawn is coming,” the werewolf whispered so softly that nothing that wasn’t supernatural could have heard him.

“Shit,” Hoon hissed startled. He had been so intent on watching the auras of the men that had been following them that he had lost all sense of time. He could feel the tingles just under his skin, the warning of instincts to flee or die.

“Will you be able to return to the safety of your seethe?” Soohyun inquired as he set him down with a gentleness that had been missing earlier in the night.

Hoon paused for a moment, glancing up through the trees to the sky that was already lightening. He could feel the instincts inside him pressing him to crawl into something dark and sheltered for the night, instincts that told him there was little time. Hoon was fast, much faster than any human, but even he doubted he could outrun the dawn. “I don’t think so,” he admitted and as he did so, panic clenched in his chest.

There had been so many reasons he had agreed to become a vampire, not the least of which was the fact that his lifespan would be measured in centuries instead of decades. If he died now, younger than he would have if he had only stayed human, it would all be for nothing. Frantically he looked for a nearby place to seek shelter, anything that would shield him. The forest, with its thick trees would remain shaded most of the day but mere shade would not be enough to save him, not with as young as he was.

“I didn’t think so,” Soohyun stated, answering his silent panic. “Come on then,” strong fingers closed over his wrist and tugged, leaving Hoon with little choice but to follow after the werewolf at an inhuman speed.

▪▫▪☼▪▫▪

The cottage was tucked into a thick stand of trees and nestled in a small valley that would have been impossible to find if Soohyun hadn’t been guiding them. Hoon was reasonably certain that even with his senses he would have walked right past the tiny trail through the underbrush that led down into the valley and the home concealed there. It was a beautiful little cottage, picturesque in its appearance as if its wood had been carved from the forest itself and perhaps it had.

Soohyun wasted no time in opening the door and slipping inside, dragging Hoon with him. He only had a moment to see the sparse furnishings of a living room and a small kitchen and dining room as well as three closed doors, before Soohyun was dragging him through a door and down a flight of stairs. The room that they stepped into was much smaller than the house itself and more like a small cellar added beneath one end of the house than any real basement he knew of. Certainly much smaller than the underground maze his seethe boasted.

A light clicked on, manipulated by the werewolf’s skilled hands from a switch that Hoon couldn’t seem to find. The single bulb cast a dull glow on the small windowless space. “You can stay down here and sleep or whatever it is that you do during the day,” Soohyun offered, looking a bit uncertain of what exactly he should say. “There are no windows and as soon as I get upstairs again I’ll seal the cracks of the door so light can’t get in.”

“That isn’t necessary,” Hoon reassured, thankful but not wanting him to go out of his way. “As long as there is no direct sunlight coming through the cracks a little bit of second hand light isn’t going to hurt.”

“It stays pretty dark down here during the day,” Soohyun confirmed. “Help yourself to anything you need.” Then, with those clipped instructions, he turned and vanished up the stairs again. The sound of the door closing behind him, told Hoon that their short conversation was over and he sighed before looking around his sleeping place for the day.

The cellar seemed to have been used mostly for storage as one wall housed a large number of shelves covered with jars and other food things. A small refrigerator was tucked into a corner and humming softly as it chilled whatever its contents were. There were a few boxes lining another wall, some marked with a flowing scroll that he supposed gave clues to its contents. In the opposite corner was a cot with a mound of blankets upon it, rumpled as though someone had just risen from the bed and forgot to make it.

He was still young enough that he spent most of the day sleeping, and although he didn’t really need a bed, having something to work like one was comforting. A part of him, he supposed, should be worried that he was in the home of a werewolf during his most vulnerable time. He would be an easy target to pick off, one of the many reasons that he was required to spend the day in the seethe until he had been a vampire for a decade or two, forced to stay where he could be protected. Somehow, despite what they were, he knew that Soohyun wouldn’t harm him and that the werewolf would likely go so far as to protect him. That thought relaxed him and he moved to the bed and settled upon it.

The blankets smelled like the werewolf so he certainly had been sleeping on the cot recently, a curious behavior when Hoon was certain there was a bedroom upstairs. He added it to the long list of things that he wanted to ask the werewolf when he had the chance and sighed as he closed his eyes.

For a minute or two he lay waiting for sleep to come and claim him, but it was elusive, leaving him sitting up and casting off the blankets again. The light, for whatever reason, could be what was keeping him from sleeping and with a sigh he threw his feet over the edge of the cot in order to go search for it.

Before he could stand, he realized his foot was perched half on a large black book. Curiously he bent and retrieved it from the floor, settling it upon his lap. Closer inspection revealed that it wasn’t a book, but leather bound photo album. Intrigued by the idea that a photo album would be laying here of all places, he gently flipped open the cover to see what lay within it. A beautiful woman whose photograph filled the entire page stared back at him, a look of playful mirth on her face. She was attractive, with dark hair and eyes, but her smile lit her facing allowing her to look equally dangerous and harmless, a deadly combination.

He turned the page carefully and found another picture of the woman, bent over with her hands covered in the dirt of the garden she was tending. She seemed to be unaware of the camera in the shot and the one below it captured her in a similar state, spread across the grass with her eyes closed in slumber. The page beside it was empty, as if the pictures had been removed or never placed there, so he turned to the next.

A smile crossed his face at the next picture that greeted him. There was the woman again, looking proud of herself with her arm stretched out holding the camera and looming over the sleeping form of a man with dark marks on his face. In her hand sat the incriminating marker that had likely caused the marks to the man’s body. The man, completely unaware of what had happened, appeared to be a younger version of Soohyun.

The next picture bore the two of them together again, she in his arms as they laughed about something. The one after that was much the same and Hoon found himself caught up in the life displayed in the photos. It wasn’t that Soohyun was truly younger in them Hoon decided, he simply looked lighter, as if the weight of the world hadn’t yet been cast on his shoulders. Hoon didn’t know who this woman was, but she was certainly well loved and he found himself drawn to her and to a photo book of a side of his friend he had never known.

It was a long time before he closed the album and tucked it beneath the bed. Even when he had done so, and discovered the location of light switch, sleep took its time in claiming him. When it finally did, his dreams were filled with a lighter version of the Soohyun he knew and a woman with dark eyes and a loving smile.

▪▫▪☼▪▫▪

The next night he was still half asleep when he trudged up the stairs and out of the basement. His body would have been more than happy to curl up and sleep for a few hours more, but he was possibly in more trouble than he could imagine already. He yawned as he closed the door behind him carefully and ran a hand through his tousled hair.

“You’re still alive I see,” Soohyun’s voice flowed from the kitchen, carrying a hint of amusement.

“Yes thanks to you,” Hoon replied, stretching. His stomach rumbled with hunger but he knew that nothing Soohyun had would be enough for him, or at least nothing that Soohyun would be willing to provide him with.

Upon a second inspection he found the house to be a bit more lived in than he had originally thought. There was a decoration here, a quilt spread there, enough touches to the décor that it was clear someone had tried to make this a home. A part of it seemed odd though, as if several things had been removed for one reason or another. On the mantle over the fireplace sat a single picture, the only one he could see. In the wooden frame he saw the woman with dark hair and eyes that had dominated the photo book downstairs.

The werewolf must have seen him looking because there was an angry growl from behind him and he felt anger coming from him. He knew better than to ask who she was, not when everything from their relationship was still so new and fragile. Instead he turned back to the werewolf and bowed respectfully.

“Thank you for your hospitality. I will not forget it,” he promised.

“I would prefer if you would,” Soohyun grumbled under his breath before taking a sip of the contents of the mug in front of him.

“I have to go. I’m already in trouble,” Hoon admitted.

Soohyun gestured to the front door with his mug, “Don’t let me keep you.”

“I’ll see you later?” Hoon didn’t mean for it come out as a question, but he hoped that Soohyun wouldn’t suddenly disappear over one instance of humans in the forest. The grunt that answered him wasn’t exactly a promise for a later meeting, but it wasn’t a refusal either. For now, that was enough.


End file.
